Geraldine Cox AM
Cambodian orphans’ “Big Mum”, Motivational Speaker, Author, Fundraiser
Specialty Areas
Community Service and Engagement, Families, Motivational Speaking, Social Justice and Human Rights
About Me
Geraldine Cox, AM takes on impossible tasks and her energy, determination and joy-of-life has sustained her through diplomatic careers, and as ‘Big Mum’ to hundreds of Cambodian children.
After visiting some orphans in Cambodia in 1993, Geraldine solicited monthly donations to feed them: so started Sunrise Children’s Villages.
In 1996 Geraldine moved in with the children and in 1999 was bestowed with full Cambodian Citizenship. She still lives with the children, travelling regularly to raise funds.
Her autobiography, Home Is Where The Heart Is was published in 2000. She was made a Member of the Order of Australia in 2000, won the Weary Dunlop Award in 2011 and was nominated in 2009 as South Australian of the Year.
Children come to Sunrise from backgrounds of abuse, slave labor, begging, prostitution and acid burn attacks. 3 orphanages care for about 400 children, with countless more fed, educated, and loved since 1993.
